Cell temperature regulation

Abstract

An energy storage system includes an energy storage component. It further includes heat generating electronics. It further includes a fluid circulator that transfers fluid between the energy storage component and the heat generating electronics. The circulator is controlled to alternatively transfer fluid from the battery to the heat generating electronics or from the heat generating electronics to the energy storage component based at least in part on a thermal state of the energy storage system.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An energy storage system, comprising:
 an energy storage component; 
 heat generating electronics; 
 a fluid circulator that transfers fluid between the energy storage component and the heat generating electronics; 
 a fluid circulator controller configured to control a direction of the fluid circulator; and 
 a processor configured to:
 based at least in part on an ambient temperature being below a low ambient temperature threshold, facilitate heating of the energy storage component at least in part by instructing the fluid circulator controller to control the direction of the fluid circulator to transfer fluid from the heat generating electronics to the energy storage component. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The energy storage system of  claim 1 , wherein the energy storage system comprises a set of vents. 
     
     
       3. The energy storage system of  claim 1 , wherein the energy storage system comprises a set of sensors, and wherein a thermal state of the energy storage system is determined based at least in part on measurements recorded by at least some of the set of sensors. 
     
     
       4. The energy storage system of  claim 1 , wherein the heat generating electronics comprise a DC-DC power converter. 
     
     
       5. The energy storage system of  claim 4 , wherein the processor is configured to control a throughput of the DC-DC power converter to generate waste heat. 
     
     
       6. The energy storage system of  claim 1 , comprising a plurality of modules, wherein a module comprises the energy storage component. 
     
     
       7. The energy storage system of  claim 1 , wherein the heat generating electronics comprise a primary and secondary heating element. 
     
     
       8. The energy storage system of  claim 1 , wherein the fluid circulator comprises a fan. 
     
     
       9. The energy storage system of  claim 8 , wherein the fan is bi-directional. 
     
     
       10. The energy storage system of  claim 9 , wherein the processor is configured to provide instructions to the fluid circulator controller to control the direction of the fan based at least in part on a thermal state of the energy storage system. 
     
     
       11. The energy storage system of  claim 9 , wherein the processor is configured to instruct the fluid circulator controller to control a speed of the fan based at least in part on a thermal state of the energy storage system. 
     
     
       12. The energy storage system of  claim 1 , wherein the energy storage system comprises a valve, and wherein the processor is configured to control the valve to facilitate forming a closed air loop. 
     
     
       13. The energy storage system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to provide instructions to the fluid circulator controller based at least in part on a variance in temperature across at least a portion of the energy storage component. 
     
     
       14. The energy storage system of  claim 13 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the variance in temperature based at least in part on temperature measurements taken at one or more points of the energy storage system. 
     
     
       15. The energy storage system of  claim 13 , wherein the processor is configured to predict the variance in temperature according to a thermal model. 
     
     
       16. The energy storage system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to provide instructions to the fluid circulator controller based at least in part on a temperature of a DC-DC power converter. 
     
     
       17. A method, comprising:
 based at least in part on an ambient temperature being below a low ambient temperature threshold, facilitating heating of an energy storage component of an energy storage system at least in part by instructing a fluid circulator controller to control a direction of a fluid circulator to transfer fluid from heat generating electronics to the energy storage component.